Crimson Skies
by QQQ p
Summary: Done another chapter lol - took me long enough.
1. Crimson Skies

It was dark at night. Up above Oddworld the moon with the mudkon hand hovered over the home of its hero. The mudkons a primitive race lived deep in the jungle living off of the land. The hidden forest where the mudkons lived was one of the few places that the Gluckon minions the sligs had not touched. It was deemed too dangerous to enter. Sligs who entered by themselves never returned. Scrabs and Paramytes roamed wild throughout the wilderness hunting at their leisure. The wilderness was beginning to turn against the Gluckons. They had come long ago and populated the planet, and now they were bit by bit withdrawing as each factory paid the price at the hand of the mudkon hero: Abe. The war was on. The once loyal mudkons were deserting their posts everywhere. Rapture farms was gone, so was the Freeco depot the Slig Barracks and most importantly the soul storm brewery. The profits for the gluckons were beginning to dry up… forever.  
  
Abe looked out from the safety of the wilderness. Fellow mudkons were around him. In the distance a great smog field factory lined the horizon. Pies & tasty snacks incorporated was another of the Gluckon's food processing treasures. In the long run it had taken off where Rapture farms had failed. Fumes rose up softly into the air polluting the beautiful Oddworldian sky. The black cloud surrounded the factory like a puddle of oil on the surface of still water. Long ago it had been small, but steadily the factory had grown with the loss of competition and with it the cloud above it. Over time the smog had made its way across the land and now it was getting close to the forest. The gluckons there had out stayed their welcome. This was the land of the mudkons now.  
  
"What's the plan pass it on!" whispered a mudkon behind a tree; its small pony tail shook from side to side.  
  
"What's the plan pass it on!" whispered another behind a rock. Each one looked up with beady eyes and passed the message to the next on and on down the ranks. Their green faces looked dark and mysterious in the night with their bug yellowy eyes. Abe waited looking out mystified at the monstrosity that loomed on the horizon as the message reached him. The Mudkon next to him whispered it in his ear "What's the plan pass it on!"  
  
Abe turned quickly to his left "What's the plan pass it on!" he whispered before with a look at his friend he realized that there was nobody to pass it on to.  
  
"What's the plan?" whispered the mudkon next to him frantically looking at all the assembled and in waiting mudkons.  
  
"Er… I dunno," shrugged Abe.  
  
"He doesn't know," whispered back the mudkon the message traveling rapidly back down the ranks.  
  
"Wait, wait!" hissed Abe waving his arms before mutiny broke out, but it was too late the message was already traveling. He sighed and stared up at the moon. It was as he did so that he noticed something unusual. There was a certain presence in the night sky, a darkness and it was coming closer. From the distance there was a faint noise, a bit like a wasps nest. He stared up in awe with a mixture of fear and wonder inside of him.  
  
"What is that?" he whispered to himself  
  
"What is that pass it on!"  
  
"No don't you pass that on! Grrr!" he hissed clouting the mudkon on the ear.  
  
"Saary" replied the mudkon patting Abe on the shoulder  
  
"Ok" he replied with a sigh and stared back up at the shape. It was coming close and fast. In the dark he could only just begin to make it out. As he did so he became deadly afraid. Millions of red eyes loomed through the darkness overhead coming straight towards them across the sky. The buzzing sound had roared up into a huge whirring noise.  
  
"Get down!" shouted Abe  
  
"That's no plan!" whispered one but he was quickly silenced as a mudkon next to him pushed him down beneath the foliage. The mudkons were completely silent as the whirring sound rose to a torrent of noise. Finnaly with a great rush of wind a huge mass of flying sligs came across through the air, their choppers spinning round and round like crazy attached to their backs like cocktail son shades.  
  
"Flee! Flee!" they called to each other in panic  
  
"Don't shoot!" shouted another  
  
"Get em!" said another.  
  
They didn't even notice the mudkons below they just passed right over head into the forest.  
  
"Here boy!"  
  
There was quiet as the sound became quieter and quieter. The mudkons stirred and one by one their heads popped out beneath their hiding places.  
  
"What was that!" whispered the mudkon next to Abe leaning heavily on his shoulder  
  
"I no no!" he hissed back, "Sligs and lots of them I think!"  
  
"Sligs where!" shouted one at the back.  
  
In the distance Abe watched to see several lights rising out of the factory. Some blue and green and yellow quickly as they hovered up they all sped off in different directions faster than sound. Spacecraft of all kinds seemed to be fleeing from the factory. The air had a sense of panic in it. Something big was happening.  
  
"They're afraid of us!" whispered a mudkon  
  
"They're afraid of Abe!" said another, "Victory!"  
  
And all of a sudden the Mudkons were up in arms celebrating and hugging each other round the chest and some of the females were kissing and the males were firing crossbow bolts up into the air and smiling and getting out drinks and one even began with a piece of flint to try and get a fire going.  
  
"Quiet!" hissed Abe. They stopped all looking at him. There was complete silence and Abe suddenly felt very sheepish. He gazed one by one to each of their faces that had an expression of irritation and loss of the moment, "We can't be sure what's happened yet!" pleaded Abe, "They could be calling reinforcements or they could even be going out to attack us!"  
  
There was silence and some of the frowns softened into fear or woe. He felt bad to spoil their moment but it had to be done. One face near the front however remained fixed "I think your just being nasty about a good thing. We should all be celebrating not feeling bad!"  
  
"Yeah Abe what's your problem?" said another low voice, "First you didn't want us to drink and now you don't want us to party!"  
  
"Aw come on!" sighed Abe, "That was soul storm brew! It was made from bones!"  
  
The low voiced one was quiet suddenly realizing his blunder. The mudkons all glared at him for a long time. Abe was thankfully relieved that the attention was turned away from him at least for a moment. He'd lead them all a long way to get to the edge of the forest and personally he felt he'd have done better if he'd gone alone. But they'd all insisted upon coming. They all wanted to help out on the adventure. None of them had thought at first about the problems of food and the likelihood of death. Many of them were young mudkons from the forest who thought they were the best heroes in the world because they'd killed a Paramyte or two on their first hunt.  
  
"What do we do now Abe?" sneered the frowning one "Since you're so full of good advice do you have any for what we should be doing now?"  
  
Abe was silent and realized that he was in trouble. He hadn't had a plan of action. He was just hoping to walk in like last time and set everyone free using his powers. He realized his folly now that with a group this big, things just wouldn't work out like that. They'd be shot on sight before they could even enter the building. Plus of course there would be the problems of navigating the factory once inside.  
  
"I no no" he whispered more to himself than the others but they all heard it "I no no!" he repeated woefully.  
  
"He doesn't know?" chirped another mudkon  
  
"He's been leading us on a wild Sleek chase!" roared the frowning one  
  
"I say lets go back and leave him here!" said the low voiced mudkon  
  
There were mutters of approval and all the mudkons glared at Abe who suddenly and for good reasons was wishing that he were somewhere else. One by one they each glared at Abe before passing away into the foliage. Abe stared at the floor a tear coming to his eye, but it was only a moment later that they were all backing his commands.  
  
Suddenly the sky went red and all of their faces lit up crimson at once. They turned in horror to see the factory in the distance. A huge bolt of burning red fire had burst down from the sky itself. It crashed down on the building with a tremendous explosion vaporizing the ground and chimneys instantly. The entire metal factory with its black smoggy cloud exploded into a huge fiery mushroom cloud the black soot rising up into the air as fire and burning debree scattered through the air and across the surrounding landscape. The Linear blast from above faded away a second later and what was left of the factory was only the burning remains and the haunted looks that were captured on each of the mudkon's faces. The mudkons looked on in fear and horror watching with cold eyes and only half taking in what they had seen. The fire continued to burn and even now they could feel the left over tremors of the blast running up and down their feet.  
  
"That was good wasn't it?" whispered the mudkon next to Abe with a quivering lip, "The factory blew up that's good right?"  
  
Abe didn't speak for a long time. He gazed on in fear and anxiety speechless. When he finally replied it was with great sorrow and loss in his voice.  
  
"There were five hundred mudkons in that factory" 


	2. A question of Will

Chapter2: A question of will

In the halls of the great mudkon temple there was a crowd gathered whispering amongst themselves. The doors to the hall inside had been closed for days on end, as something took place inside.

"How much longer they gonna make us wait eh?" said one

"I'm gonna go eat a bit more of scab – I'll see you later"

"I dunno what they're doing in there – but I can tell you it's something big"

There was a chill of fear in the air and a whiff of the unexpected. Nobody was sure what had happened that night when the group had come back. Only one person had spoken of it to the others, "A red light … Shrykull punished them all!"

Inside those doors the Bigface walked back and forwards. The Bigface was a mudkon with a huge orange mask that came down almost to his feet. It had long somber eyes on the mask with an expression that could hide any emotion. The elders of the clan sat cross legged at the sides of the room their expressions deep in thought. Abe sat in the center looking up at Bigface. He looked briefly at the two scars he had on his hands.

"Nothing like it," said Bigface at length, "has ever happened before. Nothing has ever been said of the sky catching fire. Something must be done to find out about it but what?"

"Why would the sky attack us?" said an eldere called Japh

"Because we deserve it!" said another very old elder called Gabbu, "All the times mudkons have skived off rituals! All the times mudkons have not respected their elders! The ancient temples have been desecrated by the glukkons. It is only right that we and they should be punished and they have taken the sharp end of the fire!"

"But what should I do?" asked Abe to the council

"You?" said the same elder, "Nothing. You have done enough for us young Abe. Your heroic deeds will be talked about for generations to come. This power however is the power of the gods and is beyond us. This I forecast will bring about the end of the Glukkons and will lead us to reclaim the temples of Oddworld. This is a power which is beyond you and us and with which we should not interfere"

"I still do not know," said Bigface slowly, "Shrykull has never done such a thing before. It seems a little strange that he would now take action into his own hands after Abe has done so much when he could have done so eons before"

"Yes but look what we have!" said Gabbu, "We have the evidence in front of us that he has taken action. The courage of us mudkons has given him strength to act"

"Is this the conclusion of the council?" yawned Japh, "Because I am getting very tired of waiting here"

"I don't think…" began Bigface

"The meeting has ended," interrupted Gabbu, "There is nothing more to discuss"

One by one the mudkons filed out through the doors.

"Wait!" called Abe, "Is that it?"

The elders ignored him. Outside they approached the crowd of people and Japh spoke Abe struggling to see over the crowd of elders.

"The council has decided that the fire of the sky was the power of Shykull enacting justice. You have nothing to fear from it"

A great cheer went up amongst the mudkons who burst into a party. A keg of forest wine was opened and happiness resounded out through the temple. The elders dispersed too old to party and happy to finally go to bed after a long and wearying day. Abe shook his head and looked at the floor. He felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning he saw Bigface.

"Don't lose hope," he said, "I did not agree with the council"

"What do you think it was Bigface? What do you think that light was?"

Bigface shook his mask from side to side in thought, "Walk with me," he said.

Outside in the dark of the forest night Bigface and Abe walked along a stone path. Below them was a long and far drop that made Abe feel slightly dizzy. He had still not gotten used to these huge drops and falls – the mudkons lived in the huge trees – the cities themselves attached and everywhere below uneven ground. This temple was one of the few bastions that had never seen a slig. The vast industrial and commercial enterprises of the glukkons had not yet penetrated this far. These huge trees had stood for millennias their roots diving deep into the earth below the crust. They lived and breathed.

"The mudkons are a race of believers," said Bigface his hand on Abe's shoulder, "Although their minds are strong their wills are not – do you under stand me?"

"I think so," replied Abe scratching his head

"Every now and again though you get mudkons who don't follow the will of others. They have their own will like you and I. Tell me Abe… why did you escape from Rapture farms?"

"Cos the Glukkons were gonna carve us up for lunch!"

"Exactly," replied the Bigface, "You had a will of your own. Had the others at Rapture farms even known they still would have stayed. It was your will that enabled you to escape and fight against their guns. You escaped and came here where we are still free and since then factories have gone down all over Oddworld. If I had asked someone whether they thought it was possible to ever bring down Rapture farms they would have said it was hopeless. Through your will you have changed the will of others"

"I guess," shrugged Abe

"What I'm saying to you is that they will believe what they want. You and I both know that that fire in the sky was not the work of a god. We need to find out what. If it's a Glukkon tool then it could be used on us – and if so we must destroy it"

"What should I do?"

"Last night I had a dream. I was visited by the voice of a mudkon from far away. His name was Rau and he's very old"

"Where does he live?"

Bigface stopped and sat down on a rock outside a mudkon home. He gestured Abe to sit next to him and Abe nodded and did so. Bigface took a deep breath and looked directly at Abe, "He lives in Pradock the capital city. He asked for you to come and see him"

"The capital? That's miles away"

"He is a slave to Mafrack the so called "president" of Oddworld"

"How can I get to him? Pradock is miles away"

"You must take a wind well. Under the sewers of Pradock there is an underground city of mudkons"

"Ew!" said Abe disgusted that mudkons could live in a sewer

"Yes," replied Bigface, "All sorts of creatures live in the sewers under Pradock – fleeches in huge numbers, even paramites.

"Why do mudkons live there?"

"Legend has it," said Bigface, "That before the Glukkons came to Oddworld Pradock was a great mudkon temple and city. Originally the glukkons worked with the mudkons but eventually because of their superior technology the Glukkons with the sligs suppressed the mudkons and raised the temple to the ground. The catacombs in many places still remain connected to the sewers. Being economic many of the passages in the catacombs instead of being filled in were used as flowing channels for the new sewage system. Those mudkons who were not killed or enslaved escaped underground into the catacombs. They have lived on ever since"

"I guess they wouldn't be too happy with the city above them eh?"

"I have never been to the capital before but I would think that they were not happy"

"You have never been?" questioned Abe, "Then how do you know all this?"

"Rau told me all this in my dream. He says he has something to show you but he would not tell me what. He seems slightly distressed almost mad"

"Insane?" asked Abe

"You could put it that way," said Bigface dryly, "Being a slave to the biggest villain gluckon on the planet must have its side effects"

"I'm sorry," said Abe looking at the floor, "I didn't realize"

"You have nothing to be sorry about"

Distantly they could hear the noise of the partying mudkons. The forest was alive with the noises of the night. From the warm glow of the temple center they could hear music and song. Bells and gongs were being played.

"When should I leave?"

"Now," replied Bigface, "While they are all busy. The elders will not be happy that you did not take their word"

"I do not follow the elders," said Abe, "I have never felt that way. I had no elders in Rapture farms"

"Which is why I knew from the beginning that you were special"

A bird fluttered out of the tree tops and landed on the ground in front of them. It was yellow and hopped over to Bigface. It rested on his hand unafraid and Abe looked on surprised.

"Why does it not fly away?"

"It knows I won't hurt it. It knows I have time for it," said Bigface, "You will learn true patience one day too. One day I will teach you these things before I die"

"I must go," said Abe

"Let me show you where the wind well is"

"You know where all the wind wells are in Oddworld?"

"Most of them," replied Bigface, "But for others I consult the ancient scrolls. Many don't work because of the Glukkons"

"You will come with me?"

"I am old," said Bigface, "But I will come with you so far as the catacombs. I dare not venture into the capital itself"

"Show me then"

Bigface stood to his feet and raised his hand. The bird fluttered away into the tree tops.

"Follow me"


End file.
